Nebraska chancellor: college playoff revenue model set

Dec. 5, 2012
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University of Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said Wednesday that college presidents have agreed on the revenue distribution for the college football playoff that begins in 2014. / Nati Harnik, Associated Press

by Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY Sports

by Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK -- On Wednesday morning when Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said college football's playoff revenue distribution formula was finalized, North Carolina State athletics director Debbie Yow and Missouri athletics director Mike Alden both essentially said, "That's news to me."

"I haven't seen it," said Yow, speaking on a panel at the IMG Intercollegiate Athletics forum. "The distribution formula will be the single biggest thing to ever happen in college sports."

Perlman said conference commissioners will likely make the formula available when "we put dollars to it."

So let the fighting begin over how the pie will be sliced. "It was contentious," Perlman told USA TODAY Sports. "I'm sure they went through a lot of drafts and a lot of negotiations which you would expect. But in the end, they all arrived in a place where the presidents were comfortable. We all left the room singing Kumbia."

The most controversial part? "In the end how much do I get?" Perlman said. "There's a balance between access and money. The smaller conferences have to figure that out. What do they want? More teams playing or more revenue? That's the balance that was done and I think they were satisfied. â?¦ Every conference agreed to it and wasn't with a gun to their head. This is a fair distribution."